Join us Saturday, November 17th from 6-10pm for the opening reception of THE JANIS PROJECT - BOTH SIDES NOW featuring works by renowned Philadelphia and internationally known artist Frank Hyder.

Hyder’s Janis project implicates the duality of being. His paintings and sculptures contain mysterious faces, both recognizable and foreign, blissful and forlorn. The range of media depicting this subject displays Hyder’s desires for seeing a body of work applied to its fullest means. Larger than life inflatable sculptures seem looming with ancient messages while his smaller watercolor works depict the Janis figures like characters floating through a dream. The mobile quality of the Janis Project implies the ways we carry these dualities within us, growing larger than life, lighting us from within, and carrying our own hidden identities.

Hyder’s show at James Oliver Gallery will contain several of his manifestations of The Janis Project and introduce the viewer to a fuller development of the figures in a variety of media. Light-up wall sculptures wrap the figures around an illuminated curve bringing the colorful figures to life, while watercolor works imagine the Janus in colorful imaginary landscapes. Hyder’s works, post a 2017 accident, took form in fiberglass and bronze, a medium he could perform while temporarily wheelchair bound. Hyder’s larger than life inflatables have traveled internationally and through their journeys, the series has grown to reflect the history of the countries they’ve visited.